Friday Night Lights' finale was in February on DirecTV only. For the rest of us who like seeing it in HD its still an active series, and yes very much an absolute watch for me. So are these two:

-Game of Thrones

-The Killing

If critics are backing away then I disagree with them. The case is taking awhile to develop but it still keeps my interest. Fringe was pretty good this year too. Looking forward to Louie returning as well as Breaking Bad.

I'm with ya that L&O was generally a reliably entertaining, if not great, hour of television. But I've never cottoned to SVU -- easily my least favorite of them all (assuming that we just pretend that Bebe Neuwirth one never existed, 'cuz really, who remembers that?) Partly because I think it wallows in the sleaze, but mostly because I don't care about Stabler's kids or Olivia's mom's rape or pretty much anything else they've done to flesh out the characters. Just solve a crime, thank you very much.

Sadly, most of the shows I "gotta" watch are well past their prime, I just can't give them up. This has worked out fine for South Park, which has been pretty great so far this season, but why I keep torturing myself with The Simpsons every week, I do not know. My girlfriend got me into The Office, which was fun to catch up with on DVD, but not so much fun watching new from week to week.

Right... supposed to pick 3.

South Park30 RockThe Daily Show

And thank Gore for the Internet, as I have no cable with which to watch two of those. But I generally follow the start-late-then-binge-on-DVD-or-Netflix model of modern TV viewing, especially for anything with on-going plotlines. Just finished Battlestar Galactica, for example, and I can't imagine having to stretch that out over years. 2 weeks and I'm done. NEXT!

Prof. Wagstaff wrote:...But I generally follow the start-late-then-binge-on-DVD-or-Netflix model of modern TV viewing, especially for anything with on-going plotlines. Just finished Battlestar Galactica, for example, and I can't imagine having to stretch that out over years. 2 weeks and I'm done. NEXT!

Same here, generally have two shows going on DVD via Netflix - right now, they're News Radio (never seen before, liking season 1 so far) and Fringe (on Season 2 - really like it, can't imagine keeping up w/ it weekly though).

For a number of years I was one of these "don't really watch TV" people, but slowly that's changed, though it's all pretty much DVD/Charter's "Play It Now" (can't remember the name) thing.

Prof. Wagstaff wrote:...but mostly because I don't care about Stabler's kids or Olivia's mom's rape or pretty much anything else they've done to flesh out the characters. Just solve a crime, thank you very much.

Yep. The arrival of Olivia's brother did me in.

But I generally follow the start-late-then-binge-on-DVD-or-Netflix model of modern TV viewing, especially for anything with on-going plotlines. Just finished Battlestar Galactica, for example, and I can't imagine having to stretch that out over years. 2 weeks and I'm done. NEXT!

The prequel "Caprica" was pretty good.

Torchwood was a fun DVD marathon.

So was Wallander.

Peepshow, Little Britian and League of Gentlemen all made me laugh and/or squirm in a good way.

I assume you've seen Trailer Park Boys, I can't recall if you're one of the folks who got my DVD's. But if not it's on Netflix streaming now. HIghly reccomended.

I've seen a few episodes of Sherlock and I'll be looking for the DVD or stream of those.

I watched a lot of Emergency! as a kid (although by the time I was old enough to notice, it had already been repackaged as Emergency One) but I always knew it was stupid. I recall the family watching an episode where the fellas called Rampart and when the Doc asked for their ETA, Gage looked at his watch and said, "About 5 minutes." I turned to Dad and said, "Why would he need to check his watch to know how long it will take to get to the hospital?" Dad replied with something along the lines of, "Because he's a bad actor and the writers aren't very bright." Good times.

I also have fond memories of one of the later "Movie of the Week" episodes, which featured the harrowing tale of a woman who got her big toe stuck in the bathtub tap. Oooh-la-la!

I liked Emergency! when I was a kid, too. I think for children it had a fascination like that of watching a construction site. As I've been reminded in my recent viewing -- which I've enjoyed a lot -- the show is really detailed about the tasks these guys do, almost weirdly so. Maybe that's because paramedics were relatively new and needed explaining. Here is how they radio in the vitals. Here is how they put the guy on a stretcher. Here is how the helicopter comes and picks him up.